India will begin their 11-week tour of the UK with a two-match T20I series against Ireland which gets underway in Dublin on Wednesday.
The Malahide Cricket Club ground at The Village will be the setting of the two T20 internationals in what will be India’s first visit to the ground.
Virat Kohli’s men arrived at London on Sunday before holding a training session at the Merchant Taylor’s school ahead of their visit to Dublin for the two T20 clashes against the hosts.
CHANCE FOR INDIA TO SHARPEN UP
The Ireland leg kickstarts what will be a long and grueling summer in the UK for Kohli’s men. The side are due to take on England in three T20s, three ODIs and five Tests following their engagements in Ireland.
While all eyes will be on how the Indians fare in England, the two T20s against Ireland provides them with the perfect opportunity to get into the groove before hitting English shores.
This will be only the second time that India are touring Ireland. The side had previously visited Ireland in 2007 where they had played a sole ODI in Belfast. The two sides have locked horns four times in the past (three ODIs and one T20) with India winning on all occasions.
A chance for Kohli’s men to get into their groove.
IRELAND’S T20 WOES
While Ireland gave a great account of themselves in their inaugural Test against Pakistan after becoming the 11th full member of the ICC, their form in the shortest-format of the game does not inspire much confidence. Ranked 17th in the format, Ireland were in the news recently when they became a part of the first-ever tied match in T20I history during a tri-series in Netherlands.
The Irish side last won a T20 bilateral series in 2015-16 when they beat Papua New Guinea 2-1. Since then, they have not won a single T20 bilateral series or tournament and even slumped to defeat at home to Hong Kong in 2016.
In the recent T20I tri-series in Netherlands, Gary Wilson’s men could only muster one win from four clashes.
Ireland have been unable to master the T20 format yet.
KL RAHUL’S CHANCE TO SHINE
The Ireland series provides the perfect platform for KL Rahul to stamp his authority in India limited-overs setup after being in and out of the side over the last year. The Karnataka opener has worked himself back into contention after a stupendous campaign with Kings XI Punjab in the IPL where he scored 659 runs in 14 innings at an average of nearly 55.
That form saw Rahul recalled to the Test setup in India’s one-off clash against Afghanistan in Bengaluru and the right-hander made it count with a sparkling half-century. He will be hoping to put on a similar show against the Irish to cement his place in the Indian side before the England leg of the tour begins.
KL Rahul will look to reestablish himself in the Indian team.
LIKELY LINE-UPS
IRELAND: Paul Stirling, James Shannon, William Porterfield, Andy Balbirnie, Simranjit Singh, Gary Wilson (captain), Kevin O’Brien, Stuart Poynter (wk), George Dockrell, Stuart Thompson, Boyd Rankin
INDIA: Rohit Sharma, Shikhar Dhawan, Virat Kohli (captain), KL Rahul, Dinesh Karthik, MS Dhoni (wk), Hardik Pandya, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Jasprit Bumrah, Kuldeep Yadav, Yuzvendra Chahal
